September 21, 2020

The GOP narrative on the Senate and Supreme Court is bullshit

Of course we know it is hypocritical and power mad. That goes without saying.

But even the stated excuses are BS. I won't repost it here but the turtle claims the right to fill the seat because the American public voted for the Senate Republicans in 2016 and 2018.

So here are the actual vote totals from the last two Senate elections

2016 - Democratic Candidates 51,653,808
Republican Candidates 41,324,322

2018 - Democratic Candidates 46,712,691
Republican Candidates 39,333,695

It is the on-going effect of small states getting disproportionate representation in the Senate. Even when we supposedly "lose", we really represent a great deal more Americans than the Republicans do. This is the travesty of American politics and I think it is vastly underappreciated. I have described these things to people before and they look at me like I am speaking Greek.

The counter narrative needs to be that the MINORITY party fronted by the 3 million vote loser backed by a Senate representing 10+million fewer Americans is trying to change the landscape of American politics for a generation. Couple this with an honest assessment of all the popular policies that are at risk and I think we can ratchet up the public response and outrage.

I don't think it will work because I think they will accept the electoral price to get this seat. But damn it, people need to be angry about this.

September 12, 2020

Dan Le Batard: With football's return, we can't forget past 4 years of NFL's cowardice

Great article from Dan LeBetard. He can be a goofball on his sports talk show but he can be very well spoken when the topics turn to serious subjects. He has gotten in trouble with ESPN a number of times for being too political

https://www.miamiherald.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/dan-le-batard/article245683045.html#storylink=mainstage_lead

...

As the excitement and enthusiasm for football finally returns, now we’re supposed to just forget about the past four years of historic cowardice from the power in this sport and resume our cheering because the NFL painted some new slogans in the end zones that make the big, bold, brazen statement that racism is bad? The Miami Dolphins clearly haven’t forgotten. Via a slick video released Thursday, one punctuated by their Black coach, they announced their disgust and distrust with the league’s owners — and that they’d be staying in the locker room during the anthem Sunday — because they are tired of superficial symbols and gestures, and they demand real and substantive action against racism. They did this because they know how good the owners are at hiding behind their pillars of money in shadowy silence, rarely pressed to answer any difficult questions about how they can at once support their players with sanitized statements and support their president with unsanitary dollars.

When Kaepernick kneeled, we all saw where and how the NFL stood, and that can’t be unseen. It echoes and haunts four years later, the unprecedented way Kaepernick suffered the strangest of career-ending knee injuries. No amount of jellyfish flip-flopping from the league changes the following: Kaepernick is back in Madden, raising a Black fist, no less, but him being a part of “EAsportsit’sinthegame” isn’t the same as being in the actual game-game, no matter how realistic we can make the virtual.

The NFL’s owners not only refused to be on Kaepernick’s side regarding protests but exercised an obvious institutional pressure upon him and his peers ... choosing en masse, really, to kneel before Trump instead. These owners, with all their power and F-you money, either didn’t have the stomach for any kind of public fight or chose the wrong side, and they did so for almost four damn years, while Trump was at the height of his powers but they were also at the height of theirs. That the NFL has totally about-faced on this is not an act of nobility; it is the spineless swaying blown in by the day’s wind because of all the unrest in their huddles, in their banks, in their streets. Even as piñata Roger Goodell goes on an apology tour on their behalf, Kaepernick remains unemployed. The Dolphins are wondering: How can these owners be trusted to exert their power over anything in America when they can’t even get Kaepernick a job in their own sport?

...

Too many great paragraphs to quote. Worth a read in full

September 11, 2020

A 9/11 message from Obama's Inauguration Poet

You may remember Richard Blanco from the unbelievable poem he gave at Obama's second inauguration. https://www.democraticunderground.com/10022229950

He is back with a wonderful tribute to 9/11

&feature=youtu.be

Full disclosure, Richard is an old associate of mine. He is a true Renaissance Man going from being an Engineer to a nationally recognized poet.

September 8, 2020

Oh no!...I agree with Trump on something

It pains me to say this but I finally agree with the Mango Mussolini on something.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/sep/08/michael-cohen-releases-book-disloyal-trump-racism-toxic-family-dynamic

Cohen describes Trump confronting his son over his fondness for trophy hunting, a hobby pursued with his brother Eric Trump to the fury of conservationists and delight of political opponents.

“‘What the fuck is wrong with you?’ Trump screamed at his namesake. ‘You think you’re a big man sitting on the rocks and then boom! You kill some fucking animal? Then you drag your brother into this bullshit? Why the fuck would you post photos like that? Get the fuck out of my office.’”

Donald Jr, Cohen writes, “left without a word, head downcast”.

I share DJT's opinion on game hunting and what it says about the micro-penis assholes that partake.

Just this once. I won't let it happen again.